The centennial anniversary of the public schools of Philadelphia [1818-1918]

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1818 1918

The Centennial Anniversary

of the

Public Schools
of Philadelphia

A Kocapitulation

by

John P. Garber

Printed by pupils at the

I'HiUAnRLPHiA Trades School

March. 1918

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D« of D.

THE CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY OF THE PUBLIC
SCHOOLS OF PHILADELPHIA

The public school sj^stem of Pennsylvania is the direct out-
growth of the Charity Schools established in our city and
state for the education of indigent children. Although
William Penn and many of the early immigrants were men
of learning and strong advocates of general education, the
hard conditions of the American wilderness were not favor-
able to its promotion. Besides the people were poor and the
colony was divided by the religious and political controversies
■ attendant upon the welding together of people from all lands
and imbued with greatly divergent thoughts and practices. At
the time of the Revolution the population of the state was
only about 350,000 and was so widely scattered that there was
little opportunity for strong initiative in any matter demand-
ing the general interest and support of the people. However,
such religious organizations as the Society of Friends, the
Episcopalians and the Mennonites had kept alive the demands
for education, and after the Revolution a more general interest
was awakened in communities here and there which resulted
in legislation for the establishment of private schools and col-
leges with certain opportunities for those unable to pay their
tuition. In Philadelphia the influence of such institutions as
the William Penn Charter School, the Germantown Academy,
the Academy on Fourth Street, which afterwards became the
University of Pennsylvania, and the schools established by
the Episcopalians, began to be felt. But the direct movements
leading to public education are to be found in the free classes
started at first in connection with the Sabbath school work of
the various religious denominations. A ^^ Society for the Es-
tablishment of Sunday-schools" had been formed in the city
and as early as 1792 had made an appeal to the Assembly for
ihe passage of a law providing for a general system of edu-
cation.

■ The Constitution of the State, which had been revised in
1790, contained two provisions for education which indicated
a growing interest in the subject. They were as follows:

1. "The Legislature shall, as soon as con-
veniently may be, provide by law for the es-
tablishment of schools throughout the State, in
such a manner that the poor may be taught
gratis.

2. "The arts and sciences shall be promoted
in one or more seminaries of learning."

In accordance with the latter, favorable legislation was
soon secured for the establishment of a number of such "semi-
naries," several of them within the present limils of the city.

However, it was not until March 3, 181S, that the law was
passed which virtually was the beginning of our present pub-
lic school system in Philadelphia. The Board of Control,
under whose charge the free education established by this law
was placed, met for organization on the sixth day of April of
that year. Hence it seems entirely appropriate for us now
to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the founding
of the public school system of our city even though the schools
attended by the boys and girls of to-day are very dilferent
from the ones known then — just as in many respects our city
is also different.

At that time the city extended only from the Delaware to
the Schuylkill and from South Street to Vine Street, and most
of the city west of Seventh, south of Pine and north of Vine
was open country. The remainder of what is now included
in Philadelphia was known as the Northern Liberties, Ken-
sington, Southwark, Moyamensing, Passyunk, Penn Town-
ship, Spring Garden, Oxford, Lower Dublin, IBybeny, More-
land, Bristol, Germantown, Roxborough, Blockley and King-
sessing. On the lamp posts surrounding City Hall is indicated
the boundaries of these various districts and townships which
now form a part of our city and which with the city itself
were then known as "The City and County of Philadelphia."
Under the new school law this Avas called "The First School
District of the State of Pennsylvania," a name which it has
borne ever since. Tlie city and county was divided into seven
"Sections," the city itself being "The First Section"; the
Northern Liberties and Kensington, "The Second Section";
Southwark, Moyamensing, and Passyunk, "The Third Sec-
tion"; and Penn Township, "The Fourth Section."

The schools of these four sections were placed in charge
of "directors," who, in the city proper, were chosen by the
Common and Select Councils and elsewhere were chosen by
the Commissioners of the district or township. These di-
rectors, of whom there were twenty-four in the city, twelve
in the Northern Liberties, and six in each of the other sections,
were under the jurisdiction of "a select body" called "The
Controllers of the Public Schools for the City and County of
Philadelphia." This body was composed of men selected by
their own members from each of the boards of directors and
they had general supervision as well as general control of all
the schools. The Controllers met for organization on the
sixth day of April, 1818, and at once proceeded to establish
schools for both boys and girls. In the city proper they es-
tablished the "Model School," which was located on Chester
Street and which was to serve not only as a school for in-
structing boys and girls, but also as a school for training
teachers, it being the first school established for this purpose
in the United States. In the Second Section they established
the Adelphi School with two teachers and the Kensington
School also with two teachers; in the Third Section the Moya-
mensing School with two teachers and the Southwark School
with two. Both of these schools were in rented buildings.
In the Fourth Section only a one-room school was established
and it was also in a rented building.

The law required that the pupils be instructed under what
was known as the Lancasterian System. This was a plan
whereby one teacher assisted by the older pupils was con-
sidered sufficient for the instruction of three hundred pupils.
This Monitorial System, as it eventually came to be called,
was introduced by its originator, an Englishman named Joseph
Lancaster, who also established the Model School on Chester
Street. The plan had been adopted largely because of its
cheapness, the average cost per pupil being less than four
dollars per year, while where it was not in use the cost was
then nearly ten dollars. It continued in general use in the
city and the nearby districts until in 1838 when the President
of the Board of Control, Thomas Dunlap, condemned it in his
annual report by saying: "The fullest experience has induced
the Controllers to question the efficiency of this arrangement,
which they think cannot be defended on any but nan-ow and
parsimonious views" — views which experience has shown work
irremediable harm in educational affairs.

The Controllers determined the number of school houses
that should be built and also their size and cost, although the
Directors in the various districts supervised their erection.
Twenty "respectable taxable citizens" could, by petition, com-
pel a public hearing before the courts in regard to any addi-
tional schools they might desire. As there was at lirst no
superintendent of schools, the Board of Control exercised
general super\dsion over both teachers and pupils, although
the Directors elected the teachers. The books and supplies
needed for the pupils w^ere furnished free then just as they
are now.

In 1821 the schools of the. other districts and townships of
the County of Philadelphia were also placed in charge of the
Board of Control. This increased the number of Sections to
eight. Oxford, Lower Dublin, Byberry and Moreland were
denominated The Fifth Section; Germantown, Bristol and*
Roxborough being The Sixth Section; Blockley and Kingses-
sing, The Seventh Section; and the township of Passyunk, The
Eighth Section. By that time the first four sections had 7
schools with nearly 3000 pupils in attendance. Three years
later this number had increased only 500, indicating a very
slow growth in these schools. In order to learn to read and
spell pupils were first taught the alphabet from A all the way
through to Z and even including &c. What they were then
taught in the schools is well indicated in the distribution of
the above 3500 pupils. "Exclusive of the alphabet and spell-
ing departments, and writers on slates, there are among these
children 1728 in the reading, 899 in the paper w^riting, and
1474 in the arithmetic classes: in the latter branch, some have
advanced to vulgar (common, to distinguish from decimal)
fractions, and in several schools grammar and geography are
successfully taught. Knitting and other useful needlework
forms part of the instruction of the girls, and at one of the
schools the plaiting of straw has recently been beneficially in-
troduced." In geography the ability to point out places on
the globe was regarded as the highest evidence of success. A
great deal of interest was taken in the moral instruction of
the pupils and much of the "paper-writing" was in imitation
of moral and scriptural texts written at the head of the sheet
by the teacher.

The Board of Control from the very earliest days made a
special effort to instruct colored children. As this was long
before the question of slavery became a great public issue, it

forms a matter of great credit to the Board of Control and
the citizens who supported these schools. That the colored
pupils made good use of the opportunity is indicated by the
following report on their progress: "The proficiency of the
colored children in the branches they are taught, and the or-
derly habits which they have acquired by attendance at school,
promise the happiest results for society."

Although the Act establishing these free schools several
times refers to them as "public schools," they were not such
schools as we now know them. As early as 1790 the State
began to pass laws for the free education of the poor, and
Philadelphia had secured most of such legislation. While
the law of 1818 was excellent in many respects, its purpose
was simply to establish a better and less costly system of ele-
mentary schools for poor children than the plans then in
vogue. It contained no provision for the education of any
children at public expense except "indigent orphan children
or children of indigent parents" — boys between 6 and 14
years of age and girls between 5 and 13. Hence these schools
were "pauper schools" and as such people in general had no
thought of sending their children to them; therefore, the
greater part of the children of the city were then in private
"pay schools." By the year 1834, however, a strong sentiment
had developed that education was so essential to the welfare
of the State, as well as so beneficial to the individual, that it
should be made free to all. This was a new thought based on
the idea that in a democracy education should be free, not
because some could not otherwise secure its benefits, but rather
because opportunities in such fundamental things must be as
nearly equalized as possible for all. Both ignorance and
class distinctions are fatal to a democracj^, and the most ad-
vanced thinkers of that day soon realized that the schools
afforded the best means of removing these menaces to the wel-
fare of the people.

A leading part in the final movement for free education
for all was taken by the Pennsylvania Society for the Promo-
tion of Public Schools, which was organized in Philadelphia in
1827. Roberts Vaux, the first president of the Board of
Control, was also made president of this Society. Fortu-
nately, Pennsylvania had several governors who, during this
period, were deeply interested in education. Of these Gov-
ernor Hiester took a deep interest in securing the advantages
of education for as many as possible. He especially com-

mended Philadelphia "For the establishment of schools in
which the terms of tuition are greatly reduced, and in which
those who are not able to meet the expense are taught gra-
tuitously." Governor George Wolf, in his first inaugural ad-
dress, also showed his interest in education by commending
the legislature that should provide for education ^'on a scale
so l)road and extensive as to reach every village and neighhor-
hood." When it is remembered that there were a great many,
even among adults, in the State at that time who could neither
read nor write, and that schooling was regarded by many as
unnecessary, especially for girls, the need for such action is
apparent. Upon his re-election in 1832, Governor Wolf again
manifested great interest in the schools and efforts were at
once made to place education on a better basis. Joseph G.
Clarkson, of Philadelphia, who was chairman of the House
Committee on Education, made an able report fa\'oring the
establishment of a broad system of public education with
schools open free to all children of proper age. At the be-
ginning of the session of 1833-34, on motion of Samuel Breck,
of Philadelphia, a joint committee of the House and the
Senate was appointed "for the purpose of digesting a system
of general education for this Commonwealth." The committee
obtained "all the information possible from persons engaged
in the business of education" and also made a study of the
systems in force in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New York,
where public schools had already been established. As a re-
sult of their work they presented a bill, which is said to have
been drawn up by Senator Breck, and which was passed with
only one dissenting voice. This was in 1834. While there
were things in the new law which were "found to be clumsy
and inconvenient in practice," and were therefore soon re-
pealed, the fundamental idea of free public schools for all
was thereby established and the State committed to an educa-
tional policy which has enabled it to rank among the best in
the nation.

But the new law did not have smooth sailing. It had
many strong friends and worthy advocates, but there were
some who had no sympathy with the doctrine of equality upon
which the law was founded. They had not outgrown the Old
World idea that there are two classes of society, a higher and
a lower, and that it is a mistake to endeavor to break down
the l)arrier between the two. There were others who were
unwilling to help, through taxation, to pay for the education

8

of other people's children. They had not the vision to see
how, in human society, the welfare of the individual is
wrapped up in that of his fellow-men. Nor did they stop to
consider what they owed to society for all of the benefits they
themselves enjoyed. Those who believed in two classes of
people — "the hewers of wood and the drawers of water" and
a superior class— held that to educate the "lower class" beyond
the mere elements was both unnecessary and apt to render
them unhappy. That these were human beings like them-
selves, and therefore entitled to all of the resources of growth
and satisfaction, did not enter their minds. They did not
realize that both the safety and the prosperity of the State,
and therefore their own, were in direct proportion to the in-
telligence and breadth of training of every individual in the
State. Opposition to the new educational plans and ideals
also arose from several religious organizations that had al-
ready established schools and from others who were influenced
by narrow ideals. It is not surprising therefore that efforts
were at once made to have the law repealed. Not only did
these efforts fail, but the friends of the law were able to
strengthen some of its provisions. This was largely due to
the championship of Thaddeus Stevens, who made a plea for
the law, when the issue was in doubt in the Assembly, which
was "so convincing that the friends of education were brought
in solid column to the support of the measure and thus saved
the common school system."

Although the cause of the public school triumphed. Gov-
ernor Wolf, who had been renominated for a third term, was
defeated for re-election. Like many another man who has
faithfully and fearlessly espoused a good cause, he became a
martyr to the great idea of an education for all. He went
out, however, with these prophetic words in his last message :
"There can be no doubt that as the system advances into more
general use and its advantages become more apparent, it will
increase in favor with the people generally, but especially with
the more liberal-minded and intelligent"— a fact fully demon-
strated by the history of public education everywhere, as much
of its opposition and lack of support has always arisen from
a lack of definite knowledge of the work of the schools and
their essential place in human progress.

In 1836 there was a reshaping of the public school law
for the State, which left it, in its essentials, practically as it
exists to-day. A few notable changes have, however, been made

9

since that time. The public meetings at which the tax rate
for school purposes was fixed are no longer required; holding
elections at w^hich people voted "scliools" or "no schools" was
discontinued in 1848; and the legal school age has been raised
from four, as it existed then, to six. But, aside from the fact
that the year 1836 marks the real beginning of public schools
in the State as w^e now know them, Philadelphia's main inter-
est in the act consists in its repeal of the portions of the law
of 1818 which made the Lancasterian system obligatory in the
city and which limited the benefits of the public schools to
the children of indigent parents. It also authorized the es-
tablishment of the Central High School "for the full education
of such pupils of the public schools as may possess the
requisite qualifications," This was a decidedly advanced step
in public education and showed that, in Philadelphia at least,
there were enough advanced thinkers in the Commonwealth
to justify the statement of one of tlie advocates of the law:
"In other ages and countries, the lower orders might be con-
fined to the rudiments of knowledge, while the higher branches
were dispensed to the privileged classes, in distant and ex-
pensive seminaries. But here we have no lower orders. Our
statesmen and our higher magistrates, our professional men
and our capitalists, our philosophers and our poets, our mer-
chants and our mechanics, all spring alike from the mass."

That the freeing of education and the opening of the high
school, had a general stimulating effect upon the public schools
is evident from the fact that the attendance leaped in a few
years from 7000 to 35,000. This was a triumph of the fact
so fully being demonstrated in public education in recent
years — namely, that the people will support and take pride
in their schools to the extent to which they are convinced that
they contain the maximum opportunity for their boys and
girls. And that the high school idea Avas not for the benefit
of "aristocrats" only, as w^as then claimed b\^ some, was
clearly shown by an investigation of the principal of the
school, Dr. John S. Hart, which revealed the fact that more
tlian 75 per cent, of the entering class were the sons of
laborers, porters, conductors, artisans, storekeepers, etc.

The year 1854 was a notable one in the history of the city
because, at that time, an act was passed by the Assembly
which consolidated all of the districts and townshii)s within
the County of Philadelphia with the city proper, Tliis in-
creased the number of sections under the jurisdiction of the

10

Board of Control to 24, the number of schools to 303, and the
number of pupils to 52,073. The number of teachers then
employed was 876 and the entire payroll was only $294,316
or an average of $336 per teacher. The average cost per
pupil for the year 1854 was $9.16, and the total value of the
school-plant was placed at $1,236,823.61. It is interesting to
note that "night schools" (evening schools) had already been
established and that the Board spent $20,000 upon them that
year. The president of the Board at that time, T. G. Hol-
lingsworth, said of those attending these night schools what
is even more true of our evening activities under our present
city conditions: "How much better that they should be thus
engaged, preparing to become useful and respectable citizens,
than that they should be attending those other schools, to be
found on every corner, where idle young men learn, from
experienced teachers, those lessons of vice and crime which
bring not only ruin to themselves but irreparable damage and
loss to the community.''

The Act of Consolidation placed the entire power of levy-
ing taxes in the hands of the Citj^ Councils. This soon proved
a source of irritation and friction between the Board and
Councils. As the body controlling the finances always pos-
sesses predominating power. Councils from that time were in
a position to wield an undue influence upon the policies and
practices of the Board. That the friction early became serious
is evident from one of the annual reports of Edwin Shippen,
who was President of the Board from 1864 to 1869. After
complaining of the inability of the Board to secure promised
funds with which to carry on the educational work and of the
efforts of Councils to interfere with the progressive policies
of the Board, he said: "The Councils of the City of Phila-
delphia have no more right to instruct the Board of School
Controllers in respect to educational affairs than has the
Board of School Controllers the right to instruct Councils in
regard to details of municipal management." It should be
added, however, that this condition continued as late as 1906,
when the minimum amount that could be appropriated to the
schools was fixed at 5 mills, or in reality until 1911, when the
Board w^as given the right to levy and budget its own taxation.

That President Shippen was exceptionally well prepared
to represent the best interests of the people in their educa-
tional affairs is evident from his educational vision and his
advocacy of progressive policies. He realized the desirability

11

of carefully-prepared school statistics, the importance to the
child of a properly developed body, the need of compulsory
school attendance, and also the need of expert school super-
vision. In one of his earliest reports he lamented the fact
that Philadelphia, in common with other cities, lacked the
educational records and statistics that would furnish a basis
for judging of "the practical workings of different school or-
ganizations." In his report for 1867 he urged the introduc-
tion of "a thorough, simple, and effective system of physical
exercises to give children the advantages of healthful exer-
cises, more important even, we are free to say, than any por-
tions of the mental culture." As early as 1865 he advocated
compulsory attendance at school. As it was estimated, a few
jTars later, that there were over 20,000 children not attending
an}^ school but who w^ere running the streets "in idleness and
vagabondism," the need for such a law was evidently great.
In regard to expert supervision of the schools. President
Shippen said in his report for 1867: "The time has arrived
when the huge machinerj^ of the Public School Sj^stem of
Philadelphia requires the most careful action and delicate
sui)ervision. . . . The whole system requires a governing
hand, one who has experience, tact, and executive ability.

. . Philadelphia alone, of all large cities, is without such
supervision. . . . There is no one upon whom is charged
the duties and responsibilities of supervising all the schools
of Philadelphia as a connected bod}^ . . . And to the want
of this office has been attributed, to a considerable degree,
many of the imperfections which have been charged against
our school system." A committee appointed to consider the
subject reported: "No plan of general education, the success
of which depends upon the conduct of others, however solici-
tous these may be in the performance of their duties, can be
complete without a supervisory head to recommend to the
consideration of the Board such improvements as his o^A^l
experience, and that of other cities, may from time to time
suggest." However, the necessary appropriation for tlie pur-
pose was not secured until in 1883 when, in the spring of that
year. Dr. James Mcxllister was elected as the first Superin-
tendent of the Public Schools.

President Shippen was greatly annoyed bj^ some who
would liave wrecked the schools with cheapness and by others
who would have blighted them by their carping criticism. But
he was especially bitter in his denunciation of secret opposi-

12

tion. These secret enemies, he said, lose no opportunity by
which to impair the usefulness and effectiveness of our schools.
"This secret opposition is always dangerous, and must be
carefully watched, and openly fouglit. Among these specious
oj^ponents, we hnd men of intelligence; men who have never
been within the walls of a public school edihce, and who are
utterly and shamefully ignorant of the instruction, at whicli
their malevolence is cast." AVhile he recognized the imperfec-
tion of the schools, he also saw the vital connection between
them and the prosperity of the city and between them and
the welfare of the nation. Although he was often disap-
pointed at receiving no help in the work from sources from
which he had a right to expect it, he believed in the possibili-
ties and ultimate triumph of our democracy through the in-
telligence upon which it would be firmly established by the
thorough education of the masses. Writing in 1SG6, he ut-
tered words which should be peculiarly significant during our
present great European struggle. "The final success of our
republican institutions," he said, "will depend, more than all
else, upon the success of our republican education; that the
triumphant evidence we have just been giving of the strengtii
and stability of those institutions is an evidence, more than all
else, ... of our success in educating the people."

There are many interesting things connected with these
early days of our school system. For many years the law re-
quired the county auditors to examine the accounts of the
Board. That both the Board and tlie auditors did not always
favor the bills presented for payment is clearly shown in the
following :

"The Auditors have examined the objections
of the Controllers to Benjamin Martin's account
as rendered February 4, 1821 ; in whicli he
charges 100 dollars 49 cents, for a raising din-
ner, which exceeded the amount allowed by the
Controllers 50 dollars 49 cents; and also Syl-
vester Roberts's account for i:)rinting 1000 copies
of an address delivered at Ebenezer Church on
the 4th of July last, 3 dollars fov printing a
Hymn for the same occasion ; John Graham's ac-
count of 4 dollars for a suit of clothes given to
a boy for reciting the Declaration of Independ-
ence at same time; and John Allen's of 1 dollar
50 cents for preparing the said church for the

13

same occasion; and they perfectly coincide with
the Controllers in the opinion that the said
charges are improper, and cannot be admitted."

On April 16, 1845, the Board of Controllers was given
corporate powers under the title of "The Controllers of the
public schools of the first school district of Pennsylvania."
As a corporate body, they were by this act given legal title
to all of the school property then in possession of the Com-
missioners of the County or of any other person. However,
at Consolidation of the City in 1854, these privileges reverted
to City Councils, in whose hands it remained until 1911, when
the Board was again vested with the full control of its own
property.

As an indication of the salaries paid in these early days,
the annual report of President Hollingsworth for 1855 shows
that, although the pay of teachers had been increased because
at existing rates for board, clothing and other necessary ex-
penses "it was found exceedingly difficult for an educated
young woman to live decently and comfortably on the salaries
named," it still left 198 teachers at a salary of $200 per year
and 146 at a salary of $225. This was out of a total of 935
teachers, of whom 9 per cent, were male teachers. At this
time the average cost per pupil was $9.16 — "a sum not so
large as the ordinary cost of books alone in private schools."
The average cost per pupil in the high school at that time was
$37.72.

In 1867 the appointment of the members of the Board of
Control was taken away from the various Boards of Direc-
tors and given to the courts, the members so appointed hold-
ing, by virtue of their office, full privileges in the Board of
Directors of their respective sections. At that time there
were 27 members in the Board of Control, 15 of them being
appointed by the Judges of the Court of Common Pleas, and
12 by the Judges of the District Court.

By an Act of Assembly the name of the Board of Con-
trollers was, in 1869, changed to that of the Board of Public
Education, as a more distinctive title. In 1905 there was a
general recodification of the school laws of the State, in
which the number of members of the Board was reduced from
one for each section (the sections corresponding to the city
wards), then 42 in all, to 21. At the same time the Boards
of Directors of the several school sections or wards, whicli
had been fixed by the law of 1894 at 13 for each section, or

14

Cathakixk Stkkkt Scikxm. ( .Mt. Vkknon), Nokth Siuk of Catharine
Stki'-kt. West of Thiri>

546 in all, were replaced by Boards of School Visitors of 7
members each, elected by the people. At the same time the
right to elect teachers and to control their rating was re-
moved from the local authorities and placed on a civil service
basis under the control of the Board of Education. This was
an important movement in the direction of centralizing au-
thority and the establishment of a merit system for the elec-
tion and promotion of teachers. In 1911 the Board was given
independent control of taxation, within the six-mill limit set
by law, as well as independent borrowing power. The size of
the Board was at the same time reduced to 15 members. This
was done in connection with the remodeling of the 1905 gen-
eral school law of the State, and has been referred to by the
Bureau of Education at Washington as "perhaps the most
extensive and radical instance of educational legislation that
has ever been accomplished in a single act in this country."
From the small and imperfect beginnings of 1818 has
grown a public school system in our city which now enrolls
over 230,000 pupils taught by over 6300 teachers in 307
school buildings, and representing in buildings, grounds, and
equipment a valuation of over $35,000,000. In the earlier
days there was little attempted beyond the imparting of
knowledge. The home and community life provided for many
of the things which now must be included in the program of
the school, or they will not be taught at all. The changed and
increasingly complex conditions have thrown a burden on the
school that was unknown in former days. To meet these
insistent needs the school must now not only impart knowl-
edge but must develop intelligence and adaptability of a high
type and also see: (1) that during youth health knowledge
and health habits are inculcated; (2) that there is the maxi-
mum amount of vocational intelligence and training as a
preparation for self-support; (3) that civic duties and re-
sponsibilities are as clearly appreciated and accepted as pos-
sible; (4) that helpful recreational activities are chosen and
provided for, with uplifting ideals and inclination for the use
of leisure time as their safe foundation; and (5) that woven
through this entire program there shall be a clean and high
moral purpose. In addition to this the modern school must
care for the physical and moral unfortunates so that they, too,
may have the fullest opportunity to outdistance their handicap
and find life worth living. The modern school must also reach
out into the community and become a gi'eat center of com-

15

munity intelligence and welfare. In brief, the schools of
Philadelphia are and must continue increasingly to be the
inveterate foe of ignorance, poverty, disease, crime, and all
forms of human waste and neglect, and a great fundamental
agency for increasing the welfare and influence of our City,
State, and Nation.

To carry on this important work the Board of Public Edu-
cation has provided Kindergarten classes, for children from
three to five years of age; Elementary schools, for from six
to eight years of instruction in the fundamentals of knowl-
edge and training; Junior high schools, for the first three
years of a secondary education, during which the work of the
elementary school is applied and extended in a most helpful
way; Senior high schools, for three or four years of a more
definite and scientific preparation for life; a large number of
free scholarshij)s to institutions of higher learning; Teacher-
training schools, where two and a half years of professional
training is given as a ^preparation for teaching; Continuation
schools, both day and evening — the day continuation schools
providing eight hours' instruction per week for those between
the ages of 14 and 16 who are in employment, and the evening
schools providing evening instruction, both elementary and
high, for those beyond the age of 16 who desire to improve
their education, as well as for the foreign-born who may de-
sire to learn the English language; Special classes for back-
ward, crippled, anaemic, or tubercular childi^en for whom
there are separate schools ; Cooking classes and Sewing classes,
where the domestic arts so essential to the making and keep-
ing of a good home are taught ; Handwork classes and Shop-
work classes, in which the foundations of vocational training
are laid; and School garden and Home garden classes, in
which are taught many of the things in connection with food
production and food conservation that we are now finding
so vital to our welfare, as well as a knowledge and love for
flowers and fiower-raising. Music and drawing are taught as
part of the regular daily program and with the strong under-
lying purpose of introducing the boys and girls to the rich
storehouses of art for their fuller aesthetic and spiritual en-
joyment. Physical training is systematically given as a means
of developing a strong and enduring body, a healthy attrac-
tive carriage, and for the correction of many bodily defects.
Warm lunches are provided at cost in all of the higher
schools and in many of the elementary. The Board also main-

16

tains careful Medical Inspection of the schools, both as a
means of preventing the spread of contagion and for the dis-
covery and correction of remediable physical defects; a Com-
pulsory Attendance department that cares for both truancy
and the truant, and which also has charge, under the law, of
granting working certiticates ; and a system of School play-
grounds that after school and during vacations affords a better
place to play than the street. Many valuable Community
Meetings are also being held in the school buildings, although
the community use of the school has far greater possibilities
than have, as yet, been provided for.

This, in a general way, indicates the activities and pur-
poses of our Philadelphia public school system. It is not
intended to indicate that school accommodations and equip-
ment are as adequate as they should be nor that there is not
room for improvement and enlargement along all lines. But
more and better school buildings, larger school yards, and
enlarged activities mean additional expense; and the funds
of the Board are limited. There must be full value received
from every dollar spent in the schools, but as some one has
tersely said, "A school system that is not costing a great deal
these days is not worth a great deal." And it still remains
true that the entire annual cost per pupil for public instruc-
tion in Philadelphia represents a sum not much larger than
the ordinary cost of books and other materials alone where
instruction has to be paid for.

With its modern safe and sanitary school buildings, many
of them representing an expenditure of several hundred thou-
sand dollars each, with equipment and supplies well adapted
to the work, and with teachers and methods represeenting the
best in modern educational training and thought, the public
schools of Philadelphia to-day are in marked contrast to
those attended by boys and girls of a hundred years ago. To
the work of enlargement and the improvement of these schools
we all should dedicate our best efforts; for they represent
for our young people not only the heritage of the past, but
also the opportunities of the present and the vision and hope
of the future. The great European conflict is forcing a tre-
mendous readjustment of human thought and practice. It is
rapidly setting aside that which no longer meets the needs of
the day, and proving that things which are cheap and small
have no place in modern educational thought. We are thinking
more and more in terms of the big things of life — of the

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things that go far beyond the daily task and which put a
larger purpose and meaning into life. May we all measure
up to the demands of this new day, in our ideals, in our prac-
tice, but especially in a sincere interest in the welfare of the
young people whose destinies are being shaped in our public
schools. This is not only our duty to them and to the 'com-
munity and State we are endeavoring to serve, but also an
opportunity for the highest form of service that human so-
ciety has to offer.

John P. Garber.

Philadelphia, April C, 1918.

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